New Delhi, May 1 -- India, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Germany, and the UK are among countries that have been leveraging the renewable energy transition as a cornerstone of energy security, Simon Stiell, the UN Climate chief said on Thursday at opening of the COP31-International Energy Agency High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue. Renewables offer safer, cheaper, cleaner energy that can't be held captive by narrow shipping straits, or global conflicts, Stiell emphasised. "That's why so many governments are pushing renewables plans into overdrive: to restore national security, economic stability, competitiveness, policy autonomy and basic sovereignty," he added. "War in the Middle East is taking a terrible human toll across the region. Civilians suffering. Lives torn apart. Economies stalling.the fossil fuel cost crisis now has its foot on the throat of the global economy, and stagflation on the march," he said. Ironically, the crisis is also driving a boom in renewable energy. "Those who've fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom. Last year, clean energy investment was set to be double that of fossil fuels. Solar generation was up 600 terawatt-hours in 2024, a colossal increase - though the transition remains uneven," Stiell said. The momentum should lead to a real shift, Stiell added, so that, when countries meet at COP33 in 2028 for the second Global Stocktake of climate action, they are closer to meeting the commitments made at the first. Many developing countries want to embrace clean energy, and climate resilience. But major barriers, including lack of finance , are holding them back, Stiell noted. "We must get finance flowing, rapidly. That includes delivering the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance in full and on time, and making the roadmap to $1.3 trillion a reality," he added. India ranks third globally in renewable energy installed capacity, after China and the US, according to Renewable Energy Statistics 2026....